WATERLOO, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2006--Research In Motion confirmed that it received a copy today of a ruling issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the Director-initiated inter partes reexamination of NTP, Inc. Patent #6,317,592 ('592 Patent"). This ruling, described by the Patent Office as an Action Closing Prosecution, is comparable to a Final Office Action in ex parte reexamination proceedings at the Patent Office. This ruling from the Patent Office maintains the outright and complete rejection of all claims in the '592 Patent, which includes five of the seven claims that RIM was ruled to have infringed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in August, 2005. In addition the ruling confirmed that no grounds for patentability of the '592 Patent were found by the Patent Office in the course of its reexamination.

As a result of this ruling, NTP's prosecution of claims in the reexamination of the '592 Patent is now closed and under these circumstances NTP may not submit new subject matter to the Patent Office for consideration. Similar to Final Office Actions in ex parte reexaminations, NTP may provide commentary to the Patent Office, but the Patent Office is expected to issue a Right of Appeal Notice following a 30-day response period at which point NTP will have the right to appeal to the Patent Appeal Board.

In all of the Patent Office rulings to date relating to the reexamination of all eight of the NTP patents, NTP's arguments on the merits of patentability have been rejected by the Patent Office.

It is anticipated that the Patent Office will continue its reexamination of NTP's remaining patents with special dispatch leading to Final Office Actions. All of the remaining NTP patent claims have now been rejected by the Patent Office in initial and second Office Actions, based in part on prior art not considered in the 2002 trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Here is my question though. I understand that the NTP vs RIM and the US Patent Offices reviews of NTP patents are two seperate cases. But how can Judge Spencer be allowed to simply say "I will not wait for the patent office and the case will move at the speed I dictate?"

I am no legal expert and I am sure there is an explination, but it seems to me that it is somewhat "bias" and not really allowing for due process to just decide things in the manner Judge Spencer is. Just curious on what the thoughts are regarding to that. I mean, if I were a judge sitting in his place realizing what is at stake if I were to rule in favor of an injunction, I would want to take a long hard look at the basis for NTP's suit was, no matter how long it took. Or in other words, at least wait and listen to what the Patent Office has to say.

I guess is it just my personality, but I would definately not be willing to award any money to a company who creates nothing (no products) and who's patents (after todays Pantent Office ruling) apparently have very little to do with the technology world we are in today,.

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

Good point. Even if Judge Spencer did rule before the patent office reached a conclusion, which I highly doubt, then it would take less than an eye blink for an appeal to be filed, or at least it would if I were in RIM's position

Good point. Even if Judge Spencer did rule before the patent office reached a conclusion, which I highly doubt, then it would take less than an eye blink for an appeal to be filed, or at least it would if I were in RIM's position

That is what I would think, that an appeal would be right around the corner. I mean if NTP had something that was made explicitly with the idea of pushing email over a wireless network to a device, then I would tell RIM to pay up. But in this case, it is like NTP is trying to use a pantent for spearheads carved out of stone to challenge an armed heat sinking missle. Two COMPLETELY different animals I think. I just hope those guys get whats coming to them.... $0 and embarressment.

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

I think NTP is just sore and upset because they had and idea, couldnt get it going quick enough and was forced to watch RIM make all of this money and become successful. No chance in hell i'd give them any cash

I think NTP is just sore and upset because they had and idea, couldnt get it going quick enough and was forced to watch RIM make all of this money and become successful. No chance in hell i'd give them any cash

NTP really didnt have the idea in the first place. That is what the patent office is saying. Their patent is so vague and non descriptive there are probably lots of other companies doing what RIM does that could be sued as well. But I get where you are going with that. I would be pissed too if I had an idea and had no way to bring it to fruition. You know what I would give them...I would give them free BB phones and service for a year! That way those jokers would be reminded everyday that not only did they fail to do anything constructive with this whole mess, but they also just wasted tons of money brining this suit to court with bad patents in the first place. And there they would be, their free BB's to look at everday and think about that.

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

...I would give them free BB phones and service for a year! That way those jokers would be reminded everyday that not only did they fail to do anything constructive with this whole mess, but they also just wasted tons of money brining this suit to court with bad patents in the first place. And there they would be, their free BB's to look at everday and think about that.

Excellent! We could have a special forum just for them for when the ask lame @ss questions about how to use them.

Excellent! We could have a special forum just for them for when the ask lame @ss questions about how to use them.

You know. I wonder if they actually do use them? Probably not because NTP is basically two guys and some lawyers who's office consists of a drawer full of "patents." But wouldnt that be the ultimate irony.

And yes, we could call the forum BlackberryForever.com. It could be specially designed for those who worked with NTP throughout this whole litigation.

And yes we would be giving them information they request...but only if they pay, Blackberryforums.com already has the patent on those answers, and that will hold up in court!

__________________
"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

Here is my question though. I understand that the NTP vs RIM and the US Patent Offices reviews of NTP patents are two seperate cases. But how can Judge Spencer be allowed to simply say "I will not wait for the patent office and the case will move at the speed I dictate?"

I am no legal expert and I am sure there is an explination, but it seems to me that it is somewhat "bias" and not really allowing for due process to just decide things in the manner Judge Spencer is. Just curious on what the thoughts are regarding to that. I mean, if I were a judge sitting in his place realizing what is at stake if I were to rule in favor of an injunction, I would want to take a long hard look at the basis for NTP's suit was, no matter how long it took. Or in other words, at least wait and listen to what the Patent Office has to say.

I guess is it just my personality, but I would definately not be willing to award any money to a company who creates nothing (no products) and who's patents (after todays Pantent Office ruling) apparently have very little to do with the technology world we are in today,.

So back to the question at hand...does anyone know how the Judge could just press on with the case leaving out what seems to me to be pretty vital information coming from the patent office. I mean it seems as though he wants this to be done and over with. But if he rules before the Patent Office issues its final ruling and RIM appeals, isnt he actually dragging this on further for himself?

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

That is true. There has to be some kind of check and balance though to prevent this kind of thing. I mean I guess you could view the appeal process as that, but then just like you said, he looks like an idiot.

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

I predict a shut out for RIM in this whole matter. What could they possibly appeal about. Patents to vague. plain and simple, appealing only wastes more money and time. But the CNN article did make a good point. This could be beneficial to RIM. Regardless of the issue, RIM is getting noticed and more people are learning (if they havent already) what a bb is.

I predict a shut out for RIM in this whole matter. What could they possibly appeal about. Patents to vague. plain and simple, appealing only wastes more money and time. But the CNN article did make a good point. This could be beneficial to RIM. Regardless of the issue, RIM is getting noticed and more people are learning (if they havent already) what a bb is.

You mean a shut out for RIM in the way that they win? Or do you mean shut down? I wasnt sure if you mean NTP when you said "What could they possible appeal about."

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."

Spencer is ruling on RIM's last possible appeal. RIM already lost this suit back in 2002 and this is their final appeal as the supreme court denied RIM's request to escalate it to them.

Now I'm no expert on the legal system but I would think that you should be able to win an appeal if information comes to light that proves you never should have lost in the first place. Personally I think Spencer came off sounding like an ass. I mean come on, you're a judge, this is your job. If you are gonna get pissy about people asking you to do your job then maybe you shouldn't be in that job. Still I'm fairly confident that justice will fall flat on it's face and that RIM will lose the appeal even in the face of this new evidence. I doubt the injunction will ever make it to the enforcement phase though.

Yeah I am not sure where this will go. I don't think RIM will be forced to shutdown. But I agree with PingGuy that the legal system is not always at its finest and this could be one of those times where it just fails to serve its purpose.

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"Never overcompensate for those who are intimidated by you."